What will Kentucky Book Festival visitors find on your table?
I Can Outdance Jesus, a humorous book of short stories that takes place in East Kentucky, primarily in Hazard.
Whom do you invite to stop by? Who will benefit from reading your book?
Fans of Gurney Norman, John Prine, Ed McClanahan, and of Appalachian stories and characters. Obviously, all are invited even if it is just to tell me personally that you would never sully your bookshelves with trash like this. The benefits are pretty intangible–these stories won’t stop the ravages of time or increase your virility–but they can show you a fun side of Appalachia that you don’t often see in literature.
Could you please tell us something curious about you and/or your book?
One of the stories in this book won The Willesden Herald International Short Story Prize (judged by Zadie Smith). Another of these stories won the Katherine Anne Porter Prize (judged by Amy Hempel). The title I Can Outdance Jesus came from a contest I was having with a friend where we tried to come up with the most confusing bumper sticker. The story emerged when I thought that maybe it sounded less like a bumper sticker and more like a demented Country song.
Is this your first time participating in Kentucky Book Festival? If yes – what are you looking forward to the most? If you’ve participated before – what was your favorite experience at the Festival?
I was there a few years ago to sell my novel Nightwolf. I was placed between two lovely writers whose books were approximately three thousand percent more popular than mine. So on either side of me were these very long lines, and occasionally people waiting in line would take an interest in my novel. Of course, not all of these people bought my book, but I was struck by the curiosity and intelligence of the people attending the festival. There’s a peculiar joy that readers bring out in other readers that is infectious. I was grateful to be near it.
